The Last IEP: Raising a Son With Special Needs

Willie and Tamara, his Co-Chef/Instructor

Willie's last IEP has come and gone and I am still here to tell the tale. What implications there are in such an event. NO longer guarded by the School District. NO longer told what to do by the School District.  NO more data taken to ensure the goals are being met. NO more sitting at that long table every year learning all about the ways in which he is limited, deficient, disabled. No more IDEA Law protecting him. It is both a relief and oh so scary.

This IEP was worth noting as it was different from all others. I never even looked down at those piles of white papers listing progress monitoring, SDI's, goals, and weaknesses. Willie's last IEP was a true celebration of him in all his glory. It was such a phenomenal 90 minutes that it counts as one of my best Willie days in 21 years.

At that long table in that conference room, my husband and I sat and were mesmerized by and serenaded with the narratives of the three people that over the past 3 years have lived with Willie, worked with Willie, taught Willie, and loved Willie. Their words were music to our ears. Phrases were thrown around such as "I have never seen such growth in such a short period of time in any student." One of Willie's teachers spoke of the moment she became captivated by him 4 years ago. The following quote is lifted right out of this IEP from Willie's houseparent: "When agitated, Willie will fabricate a complex verbal smoke screen (a veritable dense fog) which frequently disorients and flusters his adversary, especially when his adversary's first language is not English." Besides the obvious fact that this man has missed his calling as a writer, this sentence speaks to the depth and complex understanding of Willie. The emotional equanimity that is spoken about in the next sentence is the area Willie has grown in and continues to need improvement. But the phrase emotional equanimity, and all that implies, demonstrates the remarkable and meaningful program Willie has been a part of for the past 5 years.

As I have recounted this 90 minutes of joy to my friends, they have all said that is what all IEPs should be like. And as I have attended 14 others that were nothing like this, my hope for you is to have at least one celebratory IEP, even if it is the last.

Willie and Andreas, his Houseparent